Tough As Nails (And Maybe Bullets)
by ShuffleCat
Summary: A test chapter more than anything, will update if there's good interest! Peter hasn't met the other avengers, and his first meeting is when he accidentally sneaks up on Bucky; who promptly tries to choke Peter out.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 **Tough as Nails**

Peter shimmied down through the vent, his side aching with the bullet wound he had gotten earlier; the door on the roof wouldn't open, so he opted for the vents, not realising how much it would hurt. He moved along until he found the vent above the kitchen and sighed with relief; it was already open. He moved himself over the open vent, and dropped down. His feet met the kitchen tiles, and his neck tingled; he moved to the side, but something caught his neck, barely. A hand pushed against him, shoving him against the fridge he had landed near; the hand was cold, and hard. Peter tried to choke out a breath and a ' _what the hell?_ ' but his throat was pressed to tightly.

Peter tries to focus, tries to imagine where the person's head is, and in a quick movement he balls his hand into a fist and throws it; it collides with the person's jaw, and they stagger back, letting of Peter. Peter lets out a gasping breath, and scrambles past the person. Bucky rubs his jaw, and hears Steve.

"Bucky, you up?" Steve calls out as he walks into the kitchen; something short, and thin darts past him, and disappears somehow, down a hallway with no unlocked doors. Steve walked into the kitchen to hear Bucky cursing.

"I'm gonna kill him." Bucky said, seeing Steve. The room had been dark, it was late, but the lights had brightened up just enough now for them to see each other.

"Kill who?" Steve asked, leaning his arms on the dining table as he watched Bucky rub his jaw.

"Barton."

"How? He isn't here."

Bucky was silent, and stared at Steve; Steve could see that Bucky was shocked, and very confused.

"Where the hell is he?"

"On a mission with Nat. They left like, two days ago."

"So who the hell just punched me?"

Bucky asked, and the two left the kitchen, walking back to their rooms; neither of them were aware of the teenager hiding in the vent in the hallway. Peter was laying on his back, breathing slowly; he was able to shift himself enough so he could drop down from the vent, and land in the hallway. It took all his remaining energy to pull the bag of spare clothes down with him; he kept a few of them in the tower, where he knew no one usually went. He quickly changed out of his suit, hoping no one would leave any of the rooms; at one in the morning, it was unlikely. He staggered from the hall after throwing his bag back into the vent and replacing the cover, making it to the lounge before collapsing against the back of the couch. He grabbed the back of the couch and tried to pull himself up, but his hand gave out and he slumped to the floor. He could feel his shirt becoming wet with blood, and he knew it would soak through to the floor, but god he was tired. He blinked rapidly, trying to keep his eyes open; trying to keep himself awake. It didn't work, and he soon passed out, slumped against the back of the couch. It was Steve who found him later in the morning.

Steve left his room, closing the door carefully before heading to the kitchen for his protein drink before his morning run; he tripped. Steve stumbled over something on the ground, and muttered to himself about the others leaving cushions on the ground. He turned back and was shocked to see a teenager on the ground, with blood pooled beneath him.

"Friday, call Tony." He called out, and rushed over to the teenager. Steve quckly, but gently, adjusted him to find where the blood was coming from; he lifted the boy's shirt to find what was very obviously, a bullet wound.

"Captain! Why are you calling me at this time of the morning? It's like, seven." Tony's voice filled the room.

"Shut up Tony-"

"Oof, what woke you up, Bucky tryna climb in your bed?"

"Tony! Why is there a bleeding…teenager? On your lounge room floor?"

There was silence, and the voice that came was not what Steve expected; it was _worried._

"What do you mean he's bleeding? Steve!"

"Bullet wound in his side, he's just on the ground."

"A bullet wound?! Oh my god and Bruce isn't at the tower…Steve you wouldn't happen to know how to remove a bullet would you?" Steve could hear things moving over the speakers, and he guessed that Tony was shuffling things around on a desk, or something, in his office in the California Stark Industries office.

"Oh sure; did it all the time in the war, used a rusty bit of metal usually. No, I am not a doctor!"

"Dammit, we could use the medical cot but not if the bullet is in him."

"There's no exit wound." Steve said, picking the limp boy up in both arms. He was careful, but took quick steps, to get Peter to the medbay.

"Steve, what's going on? Is he awake?"

"Hope not, he'll be in a lot of pain, I've moved him to medbay. I didn't really know what else to do." Steve had set Peter down on one of the surgical beds, and was now looking around for the bottle of painkillers he knew Tony kept down here; surely it would be helpful for when the boy woke up. He was distracted from his search by the sound of something metal hitting the tiled floor, and rolling towards him. He looked down and saw a single, bloody bullet next to his foot.

"What?!" he asked, and turned to see Peter standing next to the bed, one hand on the bed itself, and one clutching his side. The one on his side was covered in blood, and he was shaking. "Did you just…"

Steve darted forward when the boy went limp, and fell to the ground. Steve managed to catch him and carefully lifted him, and moved him to the medical cot. The cot gave a hiss as machinery moved and closed the glass lid over the boy's body.

"Steve? Why'd you shout? Stop ignoring me!"

'S-sorry Tony, I was putting him in the cot."

"What?! We just discussed this!"

"He pulled it out." Steve said, as he sat on the ground nearby and leant his back against the wall.

"He fucking what?!" Tony screeched, and Steve heard glass break.

 _ **Hi al! I am still working on 'Play Spider Games' but I had this chapter idea at work and wanted to write it! I'm not sure if there'll be anything more to this, we'll see how views go eh?**_


	2. Chapter 2 - Who Is He?

**Chapter 2**

 **Who Is He?**

Tony swished the glass if liquor in slow circles; he had poured it without thinking, and had taken to just moving the liquid in the glass, rather than drinking it. Steve had ended the call moments earlier, after placing Peter in the medical cot. It definitely had been the call he expected at seven in the morning, so now he was fighting his need to fly back to the tower immediately, which was not the best idea. He decided to distract himself by reviewing designs on his tablet; it was slow, he took extra care to do the review properly, and there was another call from Steve.

"Steve!" Tony answered, glad to be rescued from the design review.

"He's gone."

Tony paused; what the hell did gone mean?

"What do you mean he's gone?"

"What I mean is, I left to go help Bruce carry some stuff off the quinjet, and came back and the medical cot is busted; the glass is smashed, and he's _gone."_

"Oh my god…" Tony hissed to himself, grabbing his tablet again and pulling up the results from Peter's time in the cot. It showed that Peter had become conscious during treatment, his heart-rate became elevated, then the readings ended.

"…Tony….Tony!"

"Huh? Sorry, I was…reading the cot's report."

"Are you ignoring the fact that he _broke out of it?"_

"Trying to, not working…fuck he's gotta be in the tower _somewhere."_

"Tony, is he important?"

Tony froze. "In what way?"

Tony could hear Steve roll his eyes; he did it a lot when he was talking to Tony, which Tony found insulting.

"Is he important _to you?_ Yes or no _."_

Tony swallowed then, "Yes."

"Then I'll find him."

The call ended.

"Friday, do you know where he went?" Steve called out, making his way to the elevator.

"Yes, Captain Rogers. He made his way to Mister Stark's penthouse."

Steve stepped into the elevator and groaned; he didn't have clearance for the floor.

"Of course. Great, now what…"

"Due to my protocols, I have determined it necessary that you enter the floor; you have been granted temporary clearance." Friday said, as the elevator shut and began the journey up. The doors slid open, and Steve stepped out into the floor.

"Friday what's his name?"

"I am not at liberty to reveal that information."

Steve nodded because, of course not, life was never easy anymore. He moved into the dimly lit penthouse, and stepped slowly. Despite his searching, Steve couldn't find anything. The penthouse was just too dark for him to see anything like blood, that might have dripped onto the carpet. He could hear water though, from a faucet. Steve looked towards a door nearby, and slowly pushed it open to see Tony's bedroom. There was a shower running it what Steve guessed was a bathroom attached to the bedroom. The water stopped, and Steve moved towards the door. Someone was going through a cabinet, and Steve heard something glass fall onto the tiles and roll towards the door. Footsteps followed, but stopped just near the door.

Steve could see the shadow of the boy, and how he was crouched; as if waiting for an attack.

"Friday, is Mister Stark in the tower?" He heard the boy ask, and of course, Friday answered. "No Peter, he is not."

"Great." The boy said, and the bathroom door slowly opened. Steve went to enter the bathroom, not expecting the boy to move, and certainly not for him to move quickly. The boy darted, slipping through the empty space between Steve and the doorframe, and running from the bedroom. Steve followed after, and was able to see the boy near one of the windows.

"Friday, come on!" He shouted, kicking the window, which barely shook in response.

"I apologise Peter; you are not in a condition that would prove safe to leave the tower in. Medical assistance is recommended; Captain Rogers is perfectly capable of supplying this." Peter turned to look at Steve, his eyes narrow; his arms and neck were covered in blood, he had torn up the neckband of his shirt, a long cut in the fabric from the neckband to the middle of the chest.

"Can he?" Peter asked; Steve didn't know if he was asking Friday, or Steve himself.

"Yes. Captain Rogers is trained in field medicine."

Steve let out a sigh. "As I told Tony, I am not! You do one on field surgery and you're a doctor, apparently." He muttered the last part to himself, glancing from the window to Peter.

"You've been very doctor-like today." Peter said, his voice flat. Steve wasn't sure whether or not to worry about how not panicked he sounded.

"That was mostly me saving myself from the apparent wrath of Tony Stark." Steve admitted.

"Uh…huh…"

"So, feel like explaining?"

"Explaining what?"

"Anything?

The boy didn't respond. What had Friday called him, Peter? The silence was interrupted by Tony's voice.

"Steve Rogers!"

"Yes, Tony?"

"Have you found him?"

"Hey Mister Stark." Peter said, smiling sheepishly. _God he looks young._ Steve thought to himself.

"You are going to be _death of me!_ What have I done to deserve this kind of worrying?! What have I done to des-"

"Berl-" Peter started, and smirked at the ceiling.

"Nope! God I hope you and Steve are in the same room. Also, you're a jerk, Peter."

"Can we just, go back to medical?" Steve asked, sighing. "Then can I have a normal day?"

"I apologise for the interruption Captain Rogers, but there is an issue unfolding outside the front door of the tower involving Agent Barnes." Friday's voice came over, and Steve groaned. He stared at Peter, before turning and leaving the penthouse. He opened the front door, and saw Bucky outside, as well as a dozen or so reporters. Bucky was trying to move towards the house, but the reporters had circled him. Steve also noticed, it was all happening within the fence of the Tower. Steve slammed the door behind him, and forced his back to stand as straight as possible as he walked over to the group.

He was close, when something swung past him; it was awfully close. The red and blue suited hero webbed one of the reporter's cameras and pulled it away, throwing it over the fence. "Invasion of privacy, not cool guys!" The person shouted, and Steve was relieved when the reporters followed the hero out of the gates, and back out to the streets. Steve could hear confused shouts, and realised they had lost the new hero; the gates had locked themselves once the reporters had left.

"You okay?" Steve asked his friend.

"Yeah, morning run was interrupted by people asking questions. Apparently 'were you aware of your actions while trying to kill your best friend?' is totally acceptable." Bucky said, and the two went back into the tower.

"Hey kiddos; everything alright? Got an alert from the ground sensors that someone had got in." Tony's voice came over the speakers.

"Yeah, reporters decided to follow Bucky in through the gates."

"Wow, that's brazen; apparently some dude in a onesie broke a camera?" Tony asked.

"Did Friday get you footage? Yeah, they followed him out to the street, thankfully." Bucky moved into the kitchen and began to make breakfast for himself. Steve sat at the dining table and sighed into his hands.

"That's lucky; how's the random teenager?"

"Don't call him that. He has a name."

"Does he? I just call him teenager. Is that the avengers alarm?"

Steve sighed when Tony asked because yes, yes it was. Of course it was. The team ran to suit up, and Steve promised Tony to keep him updated. They had been called to downtown New York, where they found the cause for the alarm; dozens of gigantic snails, roughly the size of vans, had slowly slithered into the street during the night, and were impeding traffic. They made quick work of gathering up the strange snails, and moved them into SHIELD transport vans so they could be studied and hopefully returned to normal snail size.

"Steve, you seeing this?" Natasha came over the comm.

"Seeing what? Where are you?" Steve searched for the woman and saw her on a rooftop. He called for Thor to lift and drop him off; which the god did happily, he enjoyed carrying his team mates. Steve landed next to Natasha, and saw what she had been talking about. On another rooftop, a few buildings away from them, was a teenage boy, sitting on the edge of the building; he was eating a churro and must have been watching the snail fight from his rooftop vantage point.

"That's Tony's kid!" Steve said, recognising the boy.

"I'm sorry, what?" Clint asked over the comms.

"He was in the tower earlier, he had a bullet wound in his side. He broke out of the medical cot, after digging the bullet out of himself."

"He broke a medical cot?" Bruce asked, having joined them on the roof after being dropped off by Thor, now that he had de-hulked.

"No, he broke _out_ of a medical cot; smashed the glass out."

"….That doesn't seem like something that should be possible." Clint replied, Bruce nodded.

"Definitely not." Bruce said. "We had to design a stronger one specifically for Bucky and Steve, we haven't needed it yet but we have it."

"What's his name?" Clint asked.

"Peter." Steve answered, and the boy turned to face them. Peter looked almost quizzical, like someone had made a comment he wanted to argue with but, he just stared at them.

"He heard you." Natasha said, and Steve shook his head.

"He can't have. We're buildings awa- where'd he go?" They had blinked and the boy had disappeared, off of the roof of a twenty story office building.

"Did you lose him?" Clint asked, teasing.

"Yes but, he was on the roof of an office building. Twenty stories high." Natasha explained, and Steve watched the building.

"What was he doing anyway?" Bruce asked, looking at Steve.

"He was watching, I think. He 'd be able to see the whole street from that roof."

The team regrouped, and made their way back to the Tower. They piled out of the elevator and into the kitchen, to see Loki sitting on one of the couches, reading a book. He wasn't really reading it so much as lazily flicking through the pages of the book.

"I thought members of your team were supposed to be incredibly smart, so why have you got this?" He asked, holding the book up.

"Is that a textbook?" Clint asked, and Steve walked over and took the book.

"It's got a label inside, from a high school." The man said, and put the book on the coffee table. Thor joined the group at last, and broke into a wide grin when he saw Loki.

"Brother! You have decided to visit, but why?" The god of lightning asked, leaning on the back of the couch.

"Family lunch didn't go as planned, so I left early." The god of mischief replied, giving a weak smile to his brother.

"So do you decided to come here?" Bruce asked, obviously confused.

"Not as much as landed here for some reason, I figured Thor would turn up eventually."

"Captain Rogers, I have finished running the facial recognition scans you asked for." Friday's voice came into the room.

"Go ahead then." Steve said, shaking a protein shake after getting it out the fridge.

"Unfortunately I can not give you the information."

"What? It's a civilian."

"There have been active protocols put in place in regards to this civilian."

"Stark." Natasha and Clint said. Steve looked at the cover of the book, and read the name of the school. A few hours later, he headed out on his bike, following directions from Friday. He pulled up at the front of the school on his bike moments before the bell sounded and students began to flood out.

"Anything?" He asked, and got negatives from both Clint and Natasha.

"This feels just a little strange." Bucky said, sitting on his bike at the other side of the school. He was fiddling with the phone Tony had given him, when he heard someone shout nearby. He heard the name "Peter" then some laughter; he looked up and saw a kid with almost curly brown hair, waiting near a gate for another kid who was walking over. There was a squealing noise in the background, and Bucky was able to jump from his bike moments before a car slammed into it, before driving back off down the street.

"My bike!" Bucky shouted, and started off down the street after the car. "Stark's gonna kill me!"

"Buck?" Steve came over the communicator in Bucky's ear. "Someone's injured outside the school, car accident."

"Following the car now. They just wrecked my bike. They're driving too erratically; it'll be a mission to catch up. Actually stopping the car isn't the issue, it's all the damn pedestrians in the way!" Bucky groaned, ducking around a group of people. Bucky felt hands tighten around his wrists, then his feet left the ground.

"Need a lift?" The person holding him asked, and Bucky realised only one hand was holding onto him. "Alright your stop's coming up, hands and feet behind the yellow line!"

Bucky saw that they were over the car, and he dropped, landing on the roof with a heavy thud. It didn't take long for Bucky to drop behind the car, and grab the bumper; he dug his feet into the asphalt and held tight, dragging the car until it came to a stop slowly. Bucky stepped back when he saw a group of police offers run over to arrest the drivers.

"How's it going Bucky?" Steve asked, and Bucky turned and went back towards the school to check his bike.

"Got the drivers."

"Wow, that was quick. I wasn't aware you had a speed boost serum." Clint said, and dropped onto the fence near Bucky's bike, which was now laying on the ground. The side the van had struck was scratched to the bare metal, the mirror had come off and the handlebar was missing. "Holy shit dude that was nearly you."

"I would've taken it better than the bike!" Bucky groaned. "Also, no speed boost. I got picked up."

"Thor? I thought he was at the tower still."

"Oh, he is; the voice was familiar though." Bucky said, and the two joint the others before heading back to the tower. Bucky immediately went to the lounge, and chatted to Friday to get something on the screen. They watched, purely for how strange it was to see Bucky willingly using technology in the Tower; camera footage came up on the screen. It was the small camera that Bucky had in his battle vest.

" _Whoa you have a metal arm? That's awesome!"_ The voice came over the speakers, and they watched the red and blue suited hero catch Bucky's arm.

"That's who picked you up?" Steve asked, lowering himself onto one of the couches. "That guy from Berlin?"

"He just _grabbed_ you…" Clint whispered.

"I know, I was there." Bucky said, smirking at Clint.

The group dwindled, and Bucky and Steve ended up in Steve's room; Steve was laying on the bed, while Bucky was sprawled out over the floor.

"I think I strangled that kid." Bucky said, breaking the comfortable silence.

"Uhhh…"

"Not, before, well yes but here, the other night; someone came out of the vents and I was sure it was Barton. If you found him that morning it was probably him; I didn't shoot him though."

"That voice; on the recording…it's been annoying me since we watched it. _I know the voice."_ Steve mumbled to himself; Bucky had fallen asleep, and after a little while, so did Steve. He dreamed of berlin, for the first time in quite awhile; he dreamt of the fighting, the red and blue suit, how they caught the shield. He dreamt of the voice, how it commented on Bucky's arm. The dreams shifted, and he was in Tony's bedroom; he could see the blood, the boy trying to open the window. He dreamt of the fists striking the window, the glass breaking, the boy falling; he dreamt of the voice as the boy talked to him, then he woke up.

"Son of a-!" He muttered, rushing out of bed. He ran out of the room, jumping over Bucky, and ran into the elevator; he knew Tony would have only arrived home, he was due to arrive earlier in the night. "Penthouse?!"

The elevator obeyed, thankfully and soon he was stumbling out of the elevator into the Tony's sitting room. The billionaire was on the couch in the dark, watching a movie.

"Morning Cap, what do I owe th-"

"You took a kid to Berlin?!" Steve shouted, it was a question as much as a statement.

"What?" Tony asked, but he had gone white; he looked frightened.

"I know the voice! It was the guy from Berlin, and the kid who was bleeding out in your bedroom; and he's the guy who lifted Bucky up from the air today!"

"Steve, I know!" Tony shouted back, he had shrunk back into the couch. "I'm an idiot, I fucked up! I was greedy and selfish, and I knew he could help! Good job figuring it out though!"

"He's a kid!"

Steve heard a whimper from Tony's bedroom; and both men looked at the sightly ajar door. It took every bit of his willpower not to march over and yank the door open; he decided staring at Tony was a better idea.


	3. Chapter 3 - He Certainly Is Super

**Chapter 3**

 **He Certainly Is Super**

"Tony…"Steve said, staring at the door.

"Steve just…leave him, please?" Tony was defeated. Steve had figured it out. Of all the team members, it had to be Steve, because of course it was. He would've preferred Clint; actually no, Clint has kids, bad idea.

"Tony, is he okay?" Steve asked, and sat next to Tony on the couch. Tony was still pressed against the corner of the couch; he looked worriedly at Steve. "Tony, relax." Steve noticed how plainly totally terrified his friend was, how the man shook, and how white his face had gone.

"He-he's fine. No, not really, he's healing quick enough, but he can't sleep. He won't tell me but you know, bad dreams."

"Well he'll fit right in here then." Steve sighed, glancing at the door, then back to Tony. "Bucky probably didn't help."

"Yeah, Peter mentioned that." Tony smiled weakly, trying to convince himself to laugh. "I can't believe it was Bucky he startled, even Natasha would have been better."

"How on earth would she be better?" Steve asked, laughter edging his words.

"He's sixteen, if he's gonna die it may as well be from some weird super spy thigh crusher move."

"Could say the same for you." Steve said, grinning at Tony.

"You could do, just don't ever tell her."

The two men smiled and leant back comfortably into the couch. Steve suspected Tony might be faking it, but he didn't want to scare the man even more.

"Tony, I've seen him, he's a small kid; how did he knock Bucky back?" Steve asked, finally finding a good time.

"I'll show you, come on soldier boy." Tony said, patting Steve's leg before getting off the couch. Steve followed his friend, and the two headed down to Tony's lab. Steve immediately noticed the homework spread out over a worktable.

"You let the kid in your lab?" Steve was gobsmacked. Tony either ignored him, or didn't hear. He was busy pulling up some information on a screen before calling Steve over.

"What's that?" Steve asked, moving over to read the screen. "It all looks very…"

"Familiar?" Tony offered. "Not surprised, it's similar to information from your scans."

"How so?" Steve read the screen again, and again. It all felt like something he should know but he didn't know why and that was annoying him. Tony pulled up camera footage which showed the roof of a building crumbling, then collapsing inwards. He paused the screen and tapped it, at the centre of the point of collapse.

"He's in here, somewhere."

"What?" Steve half whispered, taking in the footage.

"Building collapsed on him. He got himself out _somehow,_ then went and stopped a guy trying to steal one my planes _somehow,_ and didn't die; _somehow."_

"He's super." Steve said, the memories of reading his old results came back. He staggered on his feet, and rocked back; his hand caught a worktable before he fell.

"He certainly is."

"Tony, how?! He…he's a kid! He's a teenager, how is he super?"

"A spider bit him."

"Tony!" Steve's grip on the table tightened; Tony could see the metal table starting to dent in Steve's hand.

"No, really!" Tony said, bringing even more information up on the screen. "Look! I DNA tested him, he wasn't happy bout me doing it. He's got spider DNA in his people DNA."

Steve let go of the table, and stepped closer to read the information. Parts of the data looked familiar; he didn't understand most of it; he'd have to take Tony's word for it. Steve stared at the screen, and asked to see the footage of the building again; he watched the roof collapse in, and all he knew was that there was a teenager trapped underneath the rubble.

"He can't have gotten out on his own." Steve whispered, more to himself, but loud enough that Tony heard. Steve asked to watch the footage Bucky had brought up earlier, of Peter and Bucky at Berlin; he watched as Peter easily caught Bucky's metal arm, and _made a joke about it._ He could see in Bucky's face that he heard the voice; the man knew something wasn't right, the voice was too young. "Tony, how strong is he?"

"Technically, I've got no clue, we haven't got any proper data on him except from videos on youtube and news channels, but it's hard to gauge weight and what not from that. It's been…hard, keeping him around for lengths of time. He gets nervous here, around me, and he ends up leaving pretty quickly."

"Wait, one of your planes? That bird guy; that was this kid?" Steve asked, suddenly recalling what Tony had said just earlier.

"Sure was. Tell you what, getting to know this kid was a huge mistake, Steve." Tony said, turning the screen off and the two men walked back to the elevator.

"Tony! How could yo-"

"I didn't expect to _care_ so fucking much." Tony admitted it; it had never been his intention. "If I had known he was going to be so much like you, I might have reconsidered the whole matter from the get go. I didn't intend for him to stick around; I figured Berlin would go well, and I'd leave him back at home with some guidance here and there. I certainly didn't intend to want him to stick around."

"Then he went and saved your plane?" Steve asked, cocking an eyebrow as they stepped back into Tony's penthouse.

"Yes!" Tony said, then saw the kitchen; each cupboard, and each draw, had been pulled open, and left like that. "What the hell?"

"He's looking for something?" Steve saw the kitchen as well, and frowned. "Tony, do you not keep _anything_ in your kitchen?"

"No, I barely sleep up here, why would I- _shit._ Friday, scan the tower for Peter."

"Hello Boss, Captain Rogers; Peter is currently on the bottom floor, leaving the tower via the front entrance."

"Why is he leaving!?" Tony asked, obviously concerned.

"He discovered there is no food in the upper floor, so he is leaving for his home to eat. Agent Barnes is currently in the main lounge, and Peter did not wish to disturb him. There was also some talk about Captain Rogers, though it was too low for my audio sensors to totally catch."

"I can't believe this." Tony sighed, and rubbed his eyes; Steve could've sworn that Tony was smiling behind the tired gesture. The two men left one another alone, to go to bed; neither of them slept well that night. It was the next afternoon, that the avengers alarm sounded; it only took a few moments for them to suit up and move out.

"Friday, what's the situation?" Tony asked as he flew towards the point marked on his suit's GPS screen; downtown, close to an area with numerous schools.

"A tanker has been stolen; police are in pursuit of the vehicle but have not managed to apprehend the driver, as they are concerned about causing injuries to pedestrians in a chase."

"Why are we helping? It's important but…seems a little odd for us to be called in for something like this." Clint asked and pointed out, he had been carried by Thor and dropped onto a roof looking over the street the truck had been travelling down. He could see the trail of destroyed cars that lined either side of the street; other cars were still running, pulled up onto the sidewalk from when they swerved to avoid the truck. "Definitely the right area."

"The truck was being used overnight to transport a highly dangerous chemical; once exposed to air it becomes a gas, and can cause irreparable damage to the respiratory system in a matter of seconds. It was being transported to a facility that was assigned to destroy the chemical."

"Well, that sounds much more like us." Clint said with a shrug, and moved along the rooftops; he followed the sounds of the truck barrelling through cars. "Can see the truck, it's just turned right and heading down the main street – bad news, there's a school at the end, they'll be getting out shortly I think."

Tony cursed silently at Clint's words; he had the suit send an alert to Peter's phone. He knew exactly which school the truck was heading towards, hopefully Peter was quick enough.

"The top of the truck has a hatch; the windows look tough but we might be able to get in that way and stop the driver." Clint said, dropping down to a ledge and landing beside Natasha; the woman didn't flinch, she simply nodded at Clint, who grinned back. The nod was basically a smile.

"It looks like the driver's fallen asleep, or is unconscious, either way he isn't driving the truck anymore. Heading straight down that street towards the school. Lots of cars out front, ready for early pick up I think." Steve said, watching from his vantage point nearby.

"Steve, how far are you?" Tony asked, hovering back down the street. They couldn't afford the driver knowing they had been called in.

"Too far, and I'm way too heavy; he'll definitely know I'm there!" Steve came over the suit, and Tony groaned. His suit beeped, and a message popped up. Tony read the message, and let out a sigh.

"Steve, tell Nat to jump off of her ledge." Tony said, hoping they wouldn't ask questions as he began moving towards the truck again.

"What? Why?!" Steve asked. _Damn it Steve._ Tony thought to himself, as he helped direct people out of the way of the oncoming traffic hazard.

"If I tell her she won't do it!"

"I am not telling Natasha to jump off the roof!"

"On it, Captain." Nat said, and without a second _thought_ , jumped from the ledge.

"Brace your arms!" Tony said, seconds before Nat felt pressure on one of her wrists, and her body suddenly swung forward, upwards from the ground she had been falling towards.

"You're way lighter than the metal armed guy!" The voice was bright; it was cheery, and bursting with energy, she was almost jealous of it.

"He has a name; so rude." Clint said over Nat's communicator, laughing.

"What is it?" Peter asked, and Clint was stunned he had heard it. How could he communicate with them?

"Metal-Man." Tony said as Steve said. "Bucky."

"Hmmm, I'll think of something. Anyway, we're at your stop! Remember correct landing form, stay safe, bye!" Peter said cheerfully, swinging low over the truck and dropped Nat onto the roof gently. Peter swung away on one hand, grabbing the hatch as he left, and pulling it away from the truck roof, taking it with him.

"How's it going team Spider?" Tony asked.

"Driver's unconscious, truck has a braking system but I don't think we'll be able to slow it in time." Natasha came over the communicators.

"Turn right at the next street, it's a short street but it ends in the school field; no hills, no ditches, just a fence at the end of the road." It was Peter, over the communicators. Nobody responded, but Natasha followed the directions. It was a sudden, sharp turn but she was able to get around it without tipping the truck over. This street was a lot less busy, with only a few cars. Natasha heard something land on the roof of the truck, then something else; footsteps trailed back down the truck.

"On you, we'll try to slow you down." It was Steve; Natasha hit the brakes, while the two super soldiers dropped behind the truck, and held tight, digging their feet into the road surface. She looked ahead, as someone in a red suit swung past and landed on top of the fence that separated the street from the large grass field. He dropped down, and webbed a few sections of the fence, before pulling, and yanking the fence posts from the ground, creating a doorway for the truck.

"On you!" It was Tony, he had found the truck again, and was pushing against the front of it, helping to slow the vehicle. Clint had found them now as well, and was standing on the street to make sure no other pedestrians came near, when he saw the truck barrel onto the field. Its front clipped a nearby car, and send a panel of metal flying towards him. Clint was a fast man, he had to be for work, it kept him alive; the metal flew a lot faster than he could move, or think.

"Shit!" Clint shouted in the split second he had, but the metal never found him; someone was standing in front of them, then they were gone and the metal panel was laying on the ground; blood coated one edge of the sharp metal sheet.

"Hawkeye, status?"

"Fine Steve, just nearly got cut in half; someone's bleeding, and I don't think it's any of us which isn't nearly as comforting as I imagined." He said as he stepped into the street and ran across to the now stopped truck. Natasha was helping Steve get the driver from the cramped cab of the truck, when they heard sirens approach the field. The team happily handed the situation over to the police but stayed until the truck had been picked up by the correct team (complete with police escort). It was after this, that they decided to stop to eat; they found themselves in a small café, seated around a table, waiting on meals and drinks. Tony's phone buzzed in his pocket and he saw Peter's name on the message; _lunch without me?_

Tony choked on his own breath, and looked around the not very busy café; it wouldn't be like that for long, once word got out they had decided to eat there. Tony eyes scanned the crowd, and he saw the eyes of a teenage boy light up; wrong teenager. Despite this, the boy rushed to the table, and stopped next to Tony, standing between the billionaire, and Natasha. A waitress came over and began to unload drinks, shooting an annoyed glance at Flash when the boy didn't move for her, then left once her tray was empty. Tony decided he might tip the lady, purely for her ability to not tell the random kid to fuck off; he definitely wanted to do it himself.

"Hi Mister Stark." The boy said, and Tony had to hold back a sigh; he let himself smile, despite how tired he felt.

"Hi there…?"

"Flash, sir." The boy said, and Steve noticed how Tony's eyes flashed at the words. Steve wondered if Tony recognised the name.

"Ah, Flash. Nice to meet you. Did you need something?"

"I was just wondering sir, there's another kid at my school, and he says he's your intern. Stupid hey? What a dumb thing to lie about, I was wondering what you think abou-"

"Wait, you go to school with Peter?" That seemed to confirm what Steve had guessed, and Steve made a mental note to make sure Tony didn't strike the kid that was speaking to him.

"Yeah? God, has he been bothering you? I keep telling him not to lie about it but he just keeps-"

"Is he okay?"

"What?"

"A truck nearly crashed into the school today, and I know he has early dismissal this week. Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he's standing out front. Said he's waiting for a drink but he's been waiting for like, ten minutes, they aren't _that_ busy; he just hasn't got any money for a drink."

Tony's eyes flashed again, brighter, angrier, than the last time. He got up from the table quickly, and moved through the slowly forming crowd, until he found the lady at the counter. He saw Peter outside, sitting on a bike rack, swinging his legs.

"Sorry, that kid on the bike rack; did he order anything?" Tony asked, catching his breath. The young girl blinked a few times, then smiled.

"Oh yeah, he tried to use a gift card to get a juice, but his card wouldn't work. We have issues with them here all the time."

"Do you remember what he ordered? Can you make it? Make it the biggest size you got. I'll pay." Tony said, and the girl went about completing the sale, and making the drink that Peter had tried to order earlier. Tony stepped outside a few minutes later, a large takeaway cup of strawberry and watermelon juice in hand, and found Peter sitting on a bench further down the street, away from the crowd. Peter looked up from the homework laid out over his lap, and smiled at Tony; he took the drink before scooting over a little as Tony sat down.

"Kid, what the hell?" Tony asked finally.

"Hello to you too, Mister Stark. I had a good day, thanks for aski-"

"Kid!" Tony half shouted, and Peter laughed.

"What? I'm fine, the truck stopped got stopped; all taken care of." Peter said, then took a sip of his juice.

"So how badly did you get cut?" Tony asked, and waited impatiently as Peter took quite a long sip of his drink.

"Not too bad, it's already started healing."

"Kid you gotta stop throwing yourself in front of people."

" _You_ need less people that are able to get cut by flying metal, I would've webbed it but I was reloading a canister, need to tweak the next batch a bit, reload time isn't what I'd like. Mister Stark, I'm fine."

"We have very different definitions of _fine._ Whose Flash?" Tony asked, and noticed that Peter suddenly looked _very_ nervous.

"Kid from school, why?"

"Because he just approached my table, practically shoved Natasha aside, and asked me about _you."_

"I'm an interesting guy, Mister Stark. Can't blame him."

"And I can't be blamed when I-"

"Mister Stark; leave it. Thanks for the juice. See you!" Peter said, jumping up and practically running down the street, weaving between people as he went.

"Wha-" Tony started, then he saw Steve next to him. "Steve you scared the hell out of me!"

"We decided to leave, save the café the hassle of the crowd. We also worried Natasha was going to kill that kid who was talking to you, she didn't appreciate being touched. Come on I got your meal put into a container to take home." Steve said, holding up the plastic container to show Tony. Tony stood up and followed after Steve, and realised they were walking the wrong way; they were walking the opposite direction they needed to, and they had come to an industrial area. Steve pulled aside a chain fence, and the two men walked into the property; Tony saw the huge building, it's collapsed roof was much too familiar.

"Steve, you're a jerk." Tony said, and watched as the other man climbed up the pile of rubble.

"Tony this is…wow, he's a tough kid."

"I know, remind you of anyone?" Tony asked, panting as he climbed up the rubble after Steve.

"Haha Tony, I wasn't anywhere near this strong when I was his age, I had to wait a bit longer; attitude wise, you'd have to ask Bucky." Steve said, grinning.

"I feel like he'd just start laughing at me; come on, let's go home." Tony said, and the two men left the collapsed building. They didn't discuss it, but they ended up walking home; neither of them talked about the building, they didn't speak at all during their walk back to the tower. They found the others watching the news, staring at the footage of the truck chase, and how they had been there to help. The last piece of footage was not what any of them expected.

"This footage, captured by a pedestrian's phone, shows the heroics of the local hero, known as Spiderman, bravely putting himself into the path of danger, to help an Avenger. It was revealed by forensic scientists at the scene that the piece of metal thrown from the car by the approaching truck, would have been moving so quickly, there would have been only two and a half to three seconds for Hawkeye to move himself out of the way of the danger." The news anchor, a red headed woman with bright green eyes, said and they watched; the footage was from the opposite side of the street to Clint; it had caught the man from the front angle. The truck caught the car, and the metal panel from it's side was thrown through the air, right towards Clint. He hadn't realised just _how_ fast it had been moving, and seeing it from the new angle was a little sickening.

Clint was suddenly blocked by Spiderman; the red and blue suited hero dropped down from the air, landing in from on Clint not a moment too early, and the metal struck the new hero; it cut his back, slicing a deep gash from his hip, to the opposite shoulder; it a was deep red line, that spanned diagonally across his back, then he was gone from the footage, and Clint was running across the road. Clint had looked behind him, scanning the rooftops nearby for the hero but couldn't see him, then he was out of view as he entered the field.

"This raises questions; will Spiderman be a new addition to the team? Or will he remain a lone hero, helping the team when necessary?" The news woman continued on.

"He-he…I didn't realise he was injured that badly!" Clint said, defending himself before anyone could tell him off; no one did.

"You couldn't have." Tony said; he felt deflated.

"But-"

"No, Clint; you're lucky you didn't get sliced apart."

"But he…wasn't he outside the café? Afterwards? How the hell?" Clint was starting to get panicked, so Natasha gave him a sharp smack on the back of the head.

"Stop." She told him, and he nodded in return.

There was no further discussion; they enjoyed tv together, then dinner, then they all ended up going their own ways to get ready for bed; Steve ended up on the roof with his sketchpad and some pencils. He was nearly at his favourite spot, when he froze; someone else was on the roof already. A thin, young boy was sitting on the edge of the roof, feet dangling over the side of the building. His black hoodie covered any injuries he might have, but Steve knew that the boy's back had been cut open, deeply; he'd be in a _lot_ of pain.

"Hey Mister Stark." The boy said, not turning around.

 _ **Thank you to SongNoFound and Raabe! I've got two more chapters ready to go up, with some minor adjustments, and the sixth is half done. I'm really enjoying this story but need to decide where I want to take it soon. Any suggestions for directions for the story to take, or any scenes you'd like to see are welcome!**_


	4. Chapter 4 - Surpising Choice For A Date

**Chapter 4**

 **Surprising Choice for a Date**

"Mister Stark?" The boy asked.

"Not…quite…" Steve said, slowly; he was afraid of scaring the boy. He heard the boy sigh, but he didn't move.

"No lectures, please." Peter said, and Steve walked over to the teenager.

"Why would I lecture you?" Steve asked, carefully sitting on the ledge next to Peter.

"I saw the news, they showed me getting cut up; Mister Stark's been calling me since it aired. I just don't feel like being told off. He's really good at telling me off."

"Are you…ignoring phone calls from Tony Stark?" Steve asked; that was _very_ amusing.

"Sure am." Peter said, rolling his shoulders. "I didn't realise how badly it had cut me, in all honesty; I knew it wasn't gonna be good but didn't realise just how _not good_ til I saw the footage. It's hard to see your own back in a mirror."

"I was surprised as well, I thought you must've gotten out of it pretty well by the way you ran down the street when you saw me." Steve said, he didn't look at Peter; he could feel the tension in the air as the teen's body tensed.

"Don't know what you're talking about; I was at home tending my injuries as a sensible hero does."

"Nope, you were sitting with Tony, then you saw me and made a run for it. I was so sure you were okay, because how couldn't you be, if you ran like that?" Steve said, looking out at the city from the roof. "But I'm not _that_ surprised, knowing you got crushed by a building, then stopped a guy stealing an invisible plane."

Peter went to stand up, but Steve caught the boy's shoulder before he could step away; Peter was balanced perfectly, if Steve shoved hard enough Peter would topple off the roof. He wasn't in his suit, and catching the building with his webs was only possible if he fell right. He also had to hope that Steve didn't just throw him, so that he fell too far from the building.

"Kid, stay." Steve said, pulling gently on Peter's shoulder.

"Only if you don't shove me off the roof."

"And face Tony's wrath? I'd rather not." Steve said, and pulled again; Peter fell back to the edge of the roof, and sat down again.

"He told you, didn't he." Peter said; he wasn't asking.

"Yeah, I was kinda…freaking out, at the time. I always do anytime I think there might be another super solider running around, or if it involves the team."

" _Specifically…_ "

"Bucky, alright; I'm easy to figure out, I get it." Steve said, laughing softly.

"Why did he tell you?"

"Well, he showed me, more so. The footage of the building, your DNA scans…it's a little…eerie."

Peter groaned; he so badly wanted to leave but he knew the fight to get away from Steve would be risky. Maybe it was worth the risk to not have this conversation, ever.

"We went to the building, today. Well, I did, Tony followed; he didn't know where I was going. If you get up again I'm not promising to keep you on the roof." Steve said; he had meant it to be a joke, but he could see the horror on Peter's face. "Kid I didn-"

"It was heavy; like…I never really looked at a building and thought to myself how _heavy_ it must be, I do it all the time now. I look for exits, anything I can use to get out before the roof falls in, no matter where I am. Even at the tower, especially in the garage or the lab. Mister Stark's kind of…figured it out, that I don't feel comfortable here but he doesn't know why; it feels silly to say it's because I'm worried his building _will fall on me."_

Steve had no idea what to say; why was Peter telling him this?

"Bucky's scared of trains, Clint doesn't like the circus, Natasha doesn't like being in rooms by herself which might be surprising, Bruce hates elevators and Tony…I'm not sure, I'm sure he's scared of a lot of stuff. He's had it tough. It's understandable you're worried about it happening again."

"The beach. I asked him to go once. He got…weird, told me to leave and I figured…I had pushed it, you know? Just an intern." Peter said, his voice close to cracking. "Friday told me that Mister Stark doesn't like the beach, but wouldn't explain why."

Peter took a deep breath and stood up, slowly; Steve didn't move, but smiled as the boy left the roof. Steve followed a few minutes later, but rode the elevator to the penthouse. He stepped out, and found Tony slumped on the floor in the living room. Steve scrambled to the man, who was still breathing. Steve moved Tony and laid him over the couch; Tony's eyes flicked open, and he sat up suddenly, startling Steve.

"The hell?" He asked, then saw Steve.

"Tony, what on earth?" Steve asked; he was almost breathless.

"I…I think I hit the limit of how long to go without eating or sleeping; was on my way up to get…something…and I went all dizzy and fell. What are you doing here?" Steve lowered himself onto an armchair and sighed, his broad hands running over his face as he tried to think over everything that had happened.

"Came to talk to you."

"Oh, much less fun than I hoped, carry on though."

"Why don't you like the beach?" Steve asked; there wasn't really a way to ease into the question.

"Uhhh…I'd rather talk about something else."

"Like?"

"Literally _anything."_

"Alright, well…how about why Peter doesn't like being at the tower?"

"I- what?" Tony asked, and saw Steve raise an eyebrow.

"Beach or Peter."

"Neither?" Tony offered, but Steve didn't say anything. "God damn…alright. The beach; it's all just _sand._ Sand, and hot. I had enough of that in Afghanistan, and I don't need anything that makes me feel like I'm fucking back _there."_

"He's afraid the tower is going to fall on him." Steve said, and saw Tony's eyes widen in shock. "I figured you'd want to know, he said you'd figured out part of it."

"I figured he just…didn't wanna be around you guys."

"Well, that's probably true for me anyway; wasn't a huge fan of me knowing about his DNA, and that I went to the building."

"Why did you tell him?!" Tony moaned, rubbing his face with his hands.

"I wanted to be honest with him; he thought I was you, then asked me not to lecture him when he realised who I was. I thought we were going alright, til he sort of revealed he was worried I was going to shove him off the roof."

"Well, were you?"

"No!" Steve said, staring at Tony, who was smirking. "I was just stopping him from running off!"

"You know, holding a minor against their will is a bad look for Captain America."

"I wasn't! I don't want to-"

"Oh, did you want someone else?"

"Tony!"

"Me? Well I'm flattered but-"

"You're impossible! I don't want him to be scared of me! I never meant to, it's too late to undo it now, I'll just have to deal with the consequences of scaring him."

"I think he'd be more scared of Bucky, he did try to choke him out after all. Which is all well and good with another adult, though idunno if Barton would be the right one to pick; it's definitely _not_ okay to pick a kid, or a teenager, or me; you're basically the only one left who could withstand Bucky chok-"

"You done?" Steve asked, staring at Tony.

"That depends; is this conversation done?"

"Tony-"

"Maybe he isn't scared, he's a private kid; he might just be weirded out by you knowing about him." Tony shrugged, and got up from his couch. Steve shook his head and helped the billionaire to his bed, before leaving to his own room. He ran into Clint on the way, who noticed the weird look on Steve's face.

"All good Captain?" he asked.

"Apart from hearing Tony talk about Bucky choking people, fine and dandy."

"Well he does have a metal arm and a tendency t-"

"He was talking about choking in... a really weird way, he had _that_ tone of voice on." Clint's eyes went wide, and he left Steve without another word. Clint knew exactly what tone Steve meant. Steve fell into his bed with a sigh, and closed his eyes but didn't fall asleep. What a strange day it had been; the thing that bothered him the most was Peter, and how nice the kid seemed, even though he was close to Steve and Bucky in strength, or so it seemed. Steve wasn't sure just how strong the kid was, but he seemed confident; he picked up Bucky _and_ Natasha without much hesitation, even cracking jokes while holding them.

"Steve?" Tony's voice came over the intercom in Steve's room.

"Yes, Tony?"

"Why did Peter mention the beach?"

"Oh, I was trying to tell him that all of us are scared of things, I just wasn't sure what yours would be, he said he figured beaches, because you turned down going quite…spectacularly apparently, but he also figured it was just because he's just an intern and he had crossed a line with you."

"Spectacularly is one way to put it…dammit." Tony said, and Steve knew the man was worried, they said goodnight before Steve rolled onto his side, it was a restless sleep, but he still slept. He woke up the next morning tired, not ready to go out but he went for his run with Bucky, then came back to start breakfast for everyone. Once he had begun, he remembered everyone else was out already; Natasha and Clint had left for a mission, Bruce and Tony were working at another lab for the day, and Bucky was…actually he was there, but was hiding in the tower somewhere. While he put the extra stuff away, keeping out enough just to cook for himself and Bucky, he noticed that the dining table was _covered_ in sheets of paper, pencils and textbooks. Steve looked over the table, and noticed it was _all school work;_ chemistry textbooks, history books, some general science papers.

"No Ned, it's 187 _not_ 167,yes I know, we have the video lesson online. What do you mean they must've said the wrong page numbers? It's not their fault you did the wrong pages!" Peter said to the phone held to his ear by his shoulder, his hands were full of more books. "Ned I can't! I still have to do history, which is my worst class so I _have_ to do well! Yes, I know! No, MJ needs to go over her English stuff, I don't wanna drag her away from it to help me study. Yes, fine, talk to you later." Peter dumped the books onto the table and hung up his call; he groaned and threw the phone onto the dining table before slumping into a chair.

"I'm pretty good at history." Steve said from the kitchen as he plated up the breakfast for him and Bucky; he heard Peter's startled noise, and the sound of him kicking a chair.

"When did you get there?!" Peter asked; and Steve saw that familiar look of fear on the boy's face again. He swallowed, and kept his voice light; he couldn't frighten the boy again.

"Twenty minutes ago? Idunno, I've been making breakfast for me and Bucky. Did you want some?"

"No…thanks though." Peter said nervously, looking at the table of papers and books in front of him. "Why history? Dammit…"

"As I said, I'm pretty good at it." Steve said, sitting at the opposite end of the dining table.

"How good is pretty good? Because I need pretty good to be pretty fantastic." Peter said, leaning back in his seat.

"Oh well- Tony?" Steve saw Tony in the doorway nearby, and walked over to the man. The two men disappeared for a moment and returned with Thor behind them; the dining table was empty when they returned.

It was a few weeks later, when an Avenger saw Peter, almost; this time, it was Natasha's turn, again. She was inside the conductor's carriage of a train, which was hurtling along a now broken track; the end of the track was split, pointing endlessly over a sea dock, used to load cargo boats.

"Nat?!" Clint shouted over the communicators. Natasha was busy trying to find something that would stop the train from hurtling off the tracks, and into the docks below, as well as the industrial buildings nearby.

"Busy!" Natasha shouted back; she slammed her fists against the control panel, exasperated by the lack of finding anything.

"You've gotta get out! We won't get to you in time to do anything!"

"Then the train crashes, into the dock, buildings and the street nearby! It's peak hour traffic!" She said back, her voice a desperate hiss. "What-!"

Natasha shouted as the train suddenly slowed, knocking her to her knees, before it lurched again; everything in the cabin flew forward, throwing Natasha towards the window of the carriage as well. Something heavy smashed against the window before she did, and it exploded open in front of her, allowing her to fly out into the wide, open sky, with nothing to grab a hold of.

"Natasha?!" It was Steve this time. "Can you report?!"

"Anyone who can fly would be fantastic right now!" She shouted back, feeling shards of glass cut the exposed skin on her face. Something slowed her suddenly, and her body lurched upwards, before an arm wrapped around her waist.

"Not quite flying, still fun tough!" The voice was young, and she couldn't believe it. The arm around her waist was covered in red fabric; it couldn't be anyone else. "Not fun if you're scared of heights though; or trains, are you scared of trains? Probably not otherwise you wouldn't be on it to begin with. What about spiders, scared of them? They're alright, not good at conversation though. Here's your stop!"

The chattering stopped, as the two of them swung close to the ground, and she was left standing on her feet with Clint and Bruce, while the teenage hero swung away, leaving them to deal with the train that was covered in webs

"That was…strange?" Clint couldn't think of what to say; the others agreed.

Steve was the next one to see Peter; Bucky almost saw him. It was just over a month since the train incident, and they were on a mission in the middle of snow covered nowhere. The HYDRA base was long abandoned, and should have been empty; should have been. Bucky had been hit numerous times in a surprise attack, Steve had just missed the attack and was able to hide behind his shield.

"Departure time met; beginning take off procedure." The voice came over Steve's headset, and he groaned, as he helped the injured Bucky along a hallway, and to a heavy metal door. He was ready to set Bucky down, when the door groaned, and Steve saw the metal fold backwards, before exploding away from the doorway. The metal door flew from tis hinges, and landed on the ground outside, quickly lost under the heavy snowfall. He saw the helicopter nearby, beginning its program; it had already taken off, and was slowly hovering, climbing higher into the air.

"No! We had plenty of time!" Steve shouted.

"It must've picked up danger nearby and auto pilot made the decision. Hang tight, we gotchu." Tony said, and Steve sighed angrily. Wait; _we?_ Steve didn't have time to think over it much more. Something shot towards him from the helicopter, and clung tight to his chest.

"Hold tight, soldier." Tony said, and the webs became tight, and pulled sharply. Steve's grip on Bucky was like steel as the webs pulled them both upwards, and sent them flying towards the helicopter. A set of red hands grabbed Steve's upper body when he was closer to the helicopter, and pulled him and Bucky inside the cabin, before the red suited hero jumped backwards and left the cabin, falling into the sky below. Steve rushed to look outside, he hadn't realised how high the helicopter had gotten; Spiderman landed on the back of the Iron Man suit as it flew beneath them.

"Steve…what the hell?" Bucky asked between moans, laying on the floor of the cabin. Steve quickly closed the doors on both sides, then sat in the pilot's seat to take over the flight. He eased the helicopter into a higher speed, and followed above Tony, glancing down at the suited hero that was standing on the back of the suit. Steve could only shake his head; what a strange day.

The next person to run into, and be saved by Spiderman, was Deadpool. The mercenary was actually just on his way to pick up dinner from a small Mexican restaurant, where he ran into the Avengers.

"Pool!" Clint shouted from a table in the back, in a dining area. The marksman was waving at Deadpool from a table, where the others had also turned to see who the man was greeting. Clint motioned to Deadpool to go over to them, so with a sigh, Deadpool did as the Avenger asked.

"Evening chumps, how are we all doing?" Deadpool asked as he sat in the chair Clint pulled out for him.

"Well, he's drunk." Tony said, pointing at Clint. "And _he_ is angry that he can't be drunk." Tony pointed to Steve, who rolled his eyes. "So am I, just a little, because this conversation is _ridiculous."_

"Sssshhh!" Clint said to Tony, before turning to Deadpool. "So, we're trying to capture someone."

"Right? Who? Also, why are _you_ guys doing it, isn't that the reason SHIELD exists?" Deadpool asked, holding his food in his hands; he wanted to leave, so he could eat. Natasha slipped away from the table, while Clint nodded.

"Well, they're not an _enemy,_ they're just _super_ confusing."

"How is it confusing?!" Tony asked, staring at Clint.

"Because they avoid us, unless we need help! Why?!"

"Why is that bad?!" Tony asked as Natasha returned, and they heard the doors to the dining area close. "Shit, have we pushed our stay?" Tony asked, realising the other guests had already left.

"No, everyone left awhile ago; I asked the owners to close the room off so that he could eat." Natasha said, nodding towards Deadpool. The mercenary stared at her for a moment, before slowly pulling the mask from his mouth. No body said anything, and no one stared. He bit into one of his tacos, and was pleased it was still hot.

"Right…so, who are we after?" he asked, looking at Clint. The archer leant in, and whispered.

"We're trying to catch, _Spider-man."_ The man whispered, loudly, drunkenly. Deadpool coughed on his food and stared at Clint.

"What you got against Spidey?!" he shouted.

"Nothing! He's been nothing but helpful, and he wants wants to capture him!" Steve said, waving at Clint.

"I just want him to hang out with us!"

"He's done _plenty_ of hanging out with us; it's just been IN BATTLE." Steve shouted, slamming his hands onto the table.

"hanging upside down doesn't count!" Clint argued.

"So…how do you catch a Spiderman? Can you buy a glass that big?" Deadpool asked, leaning back in his seat; Tony snorted at the comment.

"Well, we tracked him down, by accident."

"There was nothing accidental about it!" Tony shouted at Clint.

"Well we accidentally saw him on the rooftop, so that counts."

"And you accidentally waited outside a building, you knew he'd be in, ready for him?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa fellas and lady fella; you all know who Spidey is?" Deadpool asked.

"Well, Tony definitely knows, and we're 95% sure we know."

"Well, that's fun but, I made a strict personal rule not to find out; private identity and what not."

Tony clapped at the words. "Fucking finally!" he said, and the building shook. Tony's phone rang, and he answered it and without thinking who was around, set it to speakerphone. "What's happening?"

"Hello to you too Mister Stark, I'm good, thanks for asking. I've had a good day, got another churro from the lady down the road, which was nice of her." It was Spiderman. "There's…well, it _looks_ like a sinkhole, but it's made of magic?"

" _What?!"_ Clint shouted, and pointed at Tony. "HE HAS YOUR NUMBER?!"

"So….watcha doing, Mister Stark?"

"Dinner."

"Ohh, is it a date? Gotta say, I'm surprised by your choice."

"Only if you were here, dollface." Deadpool shouted, and there was a pause, then a sigh from the other end of the call.

"Wait, he knows my voice?" Clint asked, pointing at himself.

"Yes. There's a…wizard or something here as well, he's nice enough, has a nice cape. Said he could close it but he can't fend off the magic…tentacles? – while he's doing it. Will send address."

The call went dead, and they all moved. It was thirteen minutes until they were all standing on a rooftop, looking down at the swirling hole in the ground; it looked like a black hole, but made up of bright purple and orange magic. Tendrils of orange and purple were standing upright from the magic, swiping at anything that came near; arrows, shuriken, grenades.

"Why'd he come along?" Bruce asked, waving at Deadpool, who was looking over the edge, by crouching and leaning his body way out.

"An extra set of hands could be helpful and, I figured he'd wanna see his pal Spidey." Tony said, shrugging, which made the suit shrug. Bruce rolled his eyes, and the group fell into action. The tentacles were easy enough to distract, no more than four appeared at any time, so it was easy to keep them busy rather than destroy them, while Dr. Strange worked his magic over the centre of the hole. Deadpool had just landed back on the edge of a roof, when the tendril he was busy with struck out and collided with the brick, smashing it to pieces. Deadpool wasn't quite quick enough, and he felt himself falling towards the swirling mass of magic that was slowly sucking up whatever was nearby.


	5. Chapter 5 - My Favourite Mercenary

**Chapter 5**

 **My Favourite Mercenary**

"Shit!" Clint shouted, seeing what had happened. "Can we get a rescue on Pool?"

"Of all the people you bring along!" The voice came through their communicators suddenly, and everyone except Tony was surprised. They saw the movement of red in the distance, moving closer to them. "You bring him! Of all people! Are you usually this busy picking up strays, or is it just lately?"

"What do you mean lately? When else has it happened?" Tony asked, as the red streaked past him, just below. He watched as the web was released, and Spiderman fell into a dive towards the middle of the black hole

"Me!" he shouted, and Tony's heart tugged. Tony heard the sound of a helicopter overhead, and looked up to see a news copter flying overhead; of course, because why not? A string of web suddenly shot upwards besides him, and caught the bottom of the helicopter. Tony looked down again to see Peter hanging upside down, his feet caught in a loop of web, and his hands holding tight to Deadpool's ankles.

"How are you a stray?" Tony asked, easing his suit down towards Spiderman. The web tugged sharply, and Peter flew upwards, throwing Deadpool at Tony as he shot upwards past the man. Tony's suit moved without him thinking and caught the mercenary.

"Christ!" Tony shouted and Deadpool hit the suit.

"Uhh, good catch, I guess?" The other man offered. "I suggest more pillows on the outside of the suit though."

"Tony what happened, did you get him?" Steve asked; the air had gone still, the blackhole shuddered before shrinking back in on itself and disappearing.

"Yeah, yeah, Deadpool's fine. Well, as far as Deadpool can be concerned." Tony said, and flew the suit towards the ground. He set Deadpool down, before exiting the suit. "What idiot thought flying a helicopter over that was a good idea?!"

"Steve's off talking to the pilots now." Clint said, walking over to the others, Natasha and Bruce behind him.

"See what I mean about spider-kid?" Clint asked, looking at Deadpool. "Giant glass, all I'm saying, I'm sure Tony could make one."

"Gonna need a strong glass, bird brain." Peter's voice came over the communicators. Bucky laughed and Clint looked upset.

"I like him." Bucky said, turning as he heard Steve approaching. "How'd the pilots go?"

"Waiting for a taxi to get them home."

"…They came here in a helicopter." Bucky reminded his friend, who shrugged, giving Bucky a smile as his response.

"I am _not_ replacing a helicopter." Tony said which got the group to laugh. Tony dropped Deadpool off closer to town, and the group returned to the tower. The others had noticed the pattern of them being saved, and wondered who would be next; they weren't expecting it to be Thor.

Clint came into the lounge from the elevator, Friday hadn't let him into the vents due to maintenance or something; he found Thor, sitting on a couch, looking worried.

"Hey big guy, what's happening?" Clint asked his team mate, while he began to make a coffee.

"Friend Clint, what is an anniversary?" Thor asked, and Clint choked on his coffee.

"Like, in what context?"

"Miss Jane and Myself."

"Uhhh….did you…forget?"

"Miss Darcy asked me if I had made any plans, and I told her I had not. Her reaction told me that my answer was wrong."

"Well, when is it?"

"What?"

Clint took a breath. "Your anniversary, big guy."

"I believe it would be today."

"Today?!" Clint shouted. Thor simply nodded. "Well, what are you going to do?"

"I do not know." Thor admitted, his shoulders slumped forward. "Jane is nearby for the next few days but she is busy, she is helping with a…science…show? I was lost during her explanation, I'll admit. What should I do?"

"Well…to be honest, she seems like the type who'd be a little miffed if you interrupted her at work. So I'm not entirely sure, what does she like?"

"Miffed?"

"Means upset."

"Ah, how strange; I do enjoy midgardian language. She likes her work, of course but she likes going for dinner, or watching stars…she likes chocolates and flowers?"

"Great! What kind?"

"Ah, well…I know she likes chocolate with little soft things inside, cream?"

"Crème."

"Yes, that and…I can picture what flowers she likes but I do not know the name."

"Friday?" Clint asked, and the TV screen turned on, showing pictures of flowers. Thor suddenly pointed, and jumped from his seat.

"Those!" He said, and the screen returned to the picture of a sunflower field.

"She likes sunflowers? Great dude, you got it!" Clint clapped the man on the back, as the Avengers alarm sounded.

"No!" Thor shouted. Clint was about to say Thor didn't have to go, but a quick announcement from Steve proved Thor, really did have to go; giant robots, because of course. It ended up being more giant snails as well, because no one had found the source yet.

The fight was long, but not difficult; it was simply the sheer amount of robots that proved the issue. The snail goop didn't help the matter. Finally, the fight was over, and they returned home.

"Welcome back Avengers, I have a phone message for Thor." Friday announced as they entered the lounge, exhausted.

"Uhh...go ahead?" Thor was confused. He vaguely understood the idea of Friday, but never really figured it out completely.

"Thor! I'm so sorry, I had meant to call you this morning but there were issues with vendors and displays and everything!" It was Jane. "Anyway, thank you so much for the gift, it was definitely a surprise, the young man who delivered it said the store had received it as a priority order. You're lovely, I'll talk to you properly when this whole thing is over, love you!"

The message ended, and Thor sat in stunned silence on the couch.

"Hey man, you did it!" Clint clapped Thor on the back. "Thor?"

"I did not do anything." The god said, not reacting to Clint's touch.

"What?" Tony asked, feeling left out.

"Thor didn't know anniversaries were a thing, and couldn't figure out what to do, so we came up with some ideas then, giant robots happened…but she still got a gift?"

"Huh. That is…weird. Friday, do you know where Jane is working? Any idea who delivered the stuff?"

The TV screen flashed, and showed footage of the front door to an office building as a young man carrying the largest bouquet of sunflowers imaginable walked up to the building, and went around the side. He was quick, swinging up with one hand while the other held the flowers, and somehow scurrying along the wall of the building until he found the window he wanted; it opened easily, and he climbed inside. A few minutes later, he left the building through the front door, a smug grin plastered on his young face.

"Son of a bitch!" Clint shouted, as Tony did the same.

"That's your kid, yeah?" Steve asked, looking at Tony, who nodded.

"Well, I guess? Yes! What the hell?!"

"The young man of Friend Tony, assisted me with Miss Jane?"

"Seems it, big guy." Clint clapped Thor on the shoulder again; Steve and Bucky were laughing in the background, even Natasha was smiling.

"Then he is a true friend! We must celebrate, in order to show him thanks!" Thor boomed, excited by the news. "Friend Tony, what does the young warrior enjoy?"

"Warrior?"

"Sir, scanners are picking up something on the rooftop." Friday announced. "I have camera feed, if you like."

"Sir Fri, go ahead." Tony said, and they watched the TV again. The camera feed showed a shimmer of green light, then they saw Loki materialise, as Spiderman flipped over the edge of the roof, and collided with the god, sending them crashing to the ground.

"SHIT!" Tony shouted before he raced off to the roof. Steve and Thor followed; the others were busy giggling, or staring in shocked silence at the TV and trying to process what they had just seen. Steve ended up in front as usual, and was the first to burst onto the roof, followed by Thor and Tony. Tony could only stare at the scene in front of him, Loki towering over Peter, who is standing there still in his suit, staring back at Loki.

"And, _who,_ are you?" Loki drawled, staring at the teenager.

"Hi, I'm allowed to be here; who are you?" Peter answered, and Tony let out a nervous laugh. Loki turned to see the three, and let out a sigh.

"Stark."

"Murder god."

"Spiderman." Peter said, and Tony knew he would be grinning under the mask.

"You, don't you start." Tony said, pointing at Peter. "You're in trouble already."

"What, why?!"

"For helping him!" Tony said, pointing at Thor, who just waved at Spiderman.

"Uhhh...what?"

"Don't even try! I got you on camera!"

"That's cheating!"

"Ahh! This is the young man who has helped me greatly!" Thor boomed, and only needed a few long steps to reach Peter, who he scooped up in a tight hug. "I owe you many thanks!"

"Ummm you're welcome?" Peter asked, as Thor squeezed him tight.

"Brother, do not squeeze too tightly; the midgardians are not as…used to your hugs, you may break him." Loki said, shaking his head at his brother.

"This one has proved remarkably unbreakable." Tony said and Thor dropped Peter back onto his feet. "It's almost comical, if only he'd stop trying to get himself killed."

"Look, he's the one who materialised out of nothing." Peter said, holding a hand out towards Loki. "I played no part in this."

"Not what I was talking about." Tony said, and Peter shook his head.

"Brother, why have you come to see us?" Thor asked, pleased to see his Brother.

"I was investigating something, some…wizard asked me to help, and we only finished the job recently." Loki explained.

"Strange asked you to help?" Tony asked, eyebrows raised.

"Does Strange where a cape?"

"That's the fella, what'd he ask you to help with?"

"Gigantic…molluscs." Loki said, closing his eyes as he spoke. He had not enjoyed the task.

"Oh thank god!" Tony shouted, throwing his hands up. "I'm so sick of those things!"

"The matter is dealt with; it won't be an issue for you any longer." Loki said, and tilted his head when Tony swore suddenly; Peter had snuck off. It was only the next week when he saw Peter again, over the camera feed at the tower as Peter's school entered through the front doors of the building. The team had no idea why Tony was so giddy all morning, until Bruce turned a corner and ran into the group of teenagers.

"Oh! Dr. Banner; sorry about us." Their tour guide said, but Bruce just smiled and shrugged.

"No worries, I forgot about the tour group. Hope you're all having fun." Bruce said, and walked past the group.

"Wow, they let him work here?" Someone in the group said, to another student. "That seems like a stupid idea; hope nobody says anything nasty to him, work place accidents suck."

Bruce swallowed hard, and carried on down the hallway to the lab he needed. Tony was there, with Natasha.

"Um, hi?"

"Bruce!" Tony said, eyes lighting up. "Bruce can stay with me."

"Absolutely not, Stark." Natasha said, and Tony pouted. "He'd kick you out when he no doubt gets sick of this weird mood you're in."

"I'm not in any mood!" Tony countered and all Natasha could do was roll her eyes.

Flash apparently had decided that The Hulk was the thing to go on about today; how dangerous it was to have him here, they must have good insurance, how many tranquilisers does it take to stop him?

"I don't care, get it out!" They heard someone shouting around the corner they were turning a little while later. Peter saw Natasha and Clint, staring at a vent above them in the ceiling. Natasha looked unimpressed, and Clint looked scared beyond belief.

"Get it out yourself." Natasha said, arms crossed.

"If I was okay doing that, I'd be okay with it being up there. I'm not, so I'm not! Get rid of it!" Clint pleaded, hands gesturing at the open vent. "Oh look, kidlings!" Clint said, spinning to face the group, a grin on his face.

"Extra credit and free lunch for whoever solves my problem." Clint said, and Natasha looked ready to kill him.

"You can't do that!" She scolded him but he kept on smiling.

"I can do what I like." He said. Flash nudged Peter, hard, and he fell forward to the front of the group. "A volunteer!"

Peter looked at Clint and Natasha, and saw their eyes narrow, just enough. Well, that wasn't a good sign.

"You are _not_ putting a school kid in the vent!" Natasha said, as Steve rounded the corner, in time to hear the statement. Clint heard the gasp, and looked very panicked.

"Quick kid, before Captain Righteous stops me." Clint pleaded, it was actually quite funny; so Peter shrugged and stepped over to the two agents, Captain America walking towards them. "Great, now get up there and get rid of the fuc- gosh hecking spider."

Peter blinked, staring at Clint.

"Clint, Tony has told you a hundred times, spiders don't live in the vents here; they're spider proof." Natasha said, sighing.

"Tell that to the spider!" Clint said, and Peter had to stop himself from laughing.

"Sure, okay." Peter finally said, and let Clint lift him up towards the vent, and pulled himself in. 'Where is i- ow! Oh my god, help! Ow! Oh my god it's huge! Peter shouted suddenly, and there was a banging from inside the vent. Clint's face had gone white, and Steve was standing beside him, listening to the kid screaming in the vent.

"Shit." Clint whispered, as Steve reached up for the vent, and easily found the hood of Peter's sweatshirt. Natasha helped Steve remove Peter from the vent, who had web in his hair, and was clutching his hands to his chest.

"Kid?" Steve asked Peter, who was now sitting on the ground, leaning back against a wall. "Kid, you alright?"

"I-I…I got it." Peter whispered.

"Got what?" Steve asked.

"The…the spider, sir." Peter said, and slowly stood up, but stumbled, and lost his footing. He stumbled forward, and something black flew from his hands towards Clint, who shouted and jumped behind Natasha. The small, rubber spider hit the floor and bounced, landing nearby. They all stared at it, then heard chuckling; they looked back to see Peter standing, tears in his eyes as he tried not to laugh as much as he wanted to. Ned was the first of the group to laugh, which set off Peter. Peter quickly moved back to the class, and fell against Ned as the two laughed. Steve was shaking his head, and nudged the fake spider with the toe of his shoe.

"First, I'm definitely telling Tony about you putting that kid in the vent, second, I am definitely telling him about the spider." Steve said, grinning at Clint, who looked mortified.

"Who the hell put it up there?!" Clint shouted, as the group passed by, heading to the cafeteria.

"You put a student up there?!" Tony asked, off to the side as he scanned the crowd.

"How were there webs?" Clint asked, frowning.

"What?"

"There were webs, and the fake spider." Clint said. "So there had to be a real spider at some point."

Tony sighed, and saw Peter and Ned, off to the side at a table on their own.

"God damn, he is never allowed in the vents again." Tony said, and shook his head.

"What? Who?"

"Who do we know that can make webs, Barton."

"That…that jerk did this?!" Clint asked, aghast. "Why would he do that to me?! I thought we were friends!"

"You wanted to catch him in a giant glass!" Tony said, and was laughing again. He had watched the security footage of the vent, four of five times. It was a good watch; he was glad Steve had told him. He hadn't bothered to tell Clint off, the look of horror on the man's face when he thought a spider had eaten the kid was enough. The telling off from Natasha also helped.

Peter saw Tony, and grinned at the man across the crowded cafeteria, before looking back at Ned.

"Want to get him back?" Tony asked, grinning but not looking at Clint.

"Yes!"

"Alright." Tony said, and set off into the crowd. Peter was talking to Ned, not looking up.

"Peter Parker!" Tony shouted, hands in the air as he walked towards the two boys. Ned looked at Tony, eyes wide, while Peter rested his forehead against the table. Tony dropped into the seat beside Peter, and placed an arm over his shoulders, holding tight to the boy's shoulder. "Ned! Good to see you." Tony grinned at Ned, who was staring at Tony, obviously starstruck.

"Lord forgive me for I may sin." Peter mumbled, and sat up properly. "Hey, Mister Stark. What's up?"

"Whats up? What's up?! My intern comes to visit my building, and I don't even get a hello!?" Tony put on his best shocked face, staring at Peter, who rolled his eyes. "Why do I keep you around still?"

Peter ignored the snort in the background, knowing it was Flash without having to look, and stared at Mister Stark, with an eyebrow raised.

"Anyway!" Tony said, continuing. "Clint apparently promised you a lunch or something?"

"Yeah, which he has to honour even if the spider wasn't real." Peter said, trying not to grin.

"Change it to dinner, I'll pick you up from home tonight, like six? Yeah six sounds good, time to get the team together as well, I've somehow lost Bruce. I think he's hiding from me." Tony said, clapping Peter on the back. Peter waited for Tony to leave before dropping his head back to the table, and groaning to himself.

"I might kill him." Peter said into the table, not seeing Ned roll his eyes. "I will kill him, and Clint, and Natasha for letting him do _that._ "

" _Natasha_? Really?" Ned asked, and Peter sat up, nodding his head vigorously. "I'll also be dead at the end of it, but it'll be worth it."

Ned could only laugh, as they cleared their table and got ready for the end of the tour. It went quickly and Peter didn't see any other Avengers during it, which he was thankful for. He hung out at Ned's for a little bit after school, then headed home to get ready for dinner; Tony invited May along as well, which Peter appreciated. It was a nice night, and quieter than Peter expected, he enjoyed just hanging out with Tony. When Peter pulled his jacket off that night, he saw a little rubber spider fall out of his pocket, which hadn't been there earlier.


End file.
